Director, Data Science - Agent-Led Engagement in Conversational Commerce

Company: Walmart
Location: San Mateo
Posted on: January 28, 2026

Job Description:

Position Summary What you'll do About the Role Walmart’s Next Gen Commerce team is redefining how customers shop by building intelligent, conversational agents that go beyond answering questions , they initiate value-driven conversations. As Director of Data Science for Agent-Led Engagement in Conversational Commerce , you will lead a core pillar under the Senior Director of Data Science - Agentic AI for Conversational Commerce . Your mission is to develop models that help the agent identify high-value moments to engage, suggest new topics, and continue conversations in meaningful, personalized ways. These proactive behaviors will be grounded in a deep understanding of each customer , drawing from both traditional digital signals (clicks, searches, orders) and conversational context. You will lead a team that builds decision systems combining traditional machine learning with large language models (LLMs). Your approach will include modeling short-term context from active conversations and maintaining long-term customer memory based on evolving profile attributes. Designing how this long-term memory is built, stored, and updated is critical to delivering truly personalized, proactive conversations. This is a hands-on leadership role . You will work closely with engineering, product, and experience teams to move fast, deliver with precision, and ensure technical solutions translate to measurable customer impact. Success in this role requires strong judgment, a bias for action, and the ability to work efficiently across functions in a highly iterative environment. Responsibilities Lead and grow a team of applied scientists focused on proactive engagement within the conversational agent Develop models that identify opportunities to initiate or extend conversations based on user behavior and intent Build systems to suggest relevant topics, journeys, or actions, grounded in customer history and ongoing conversation Combine LLMs with traditional ML to model both short-term context and long-term memory for personalization Define strategies for building, storing, and evolving customer profiles as persistent memory for LLM-based decisioning Partner with product and UX teams to surface proactive suggestions in a natural, timely way during conversations Establish and track metrics for engagement, relevance, and long-term customer impact Align with other data science pillars to ensure consistency in agent behavior, quality, and personalization Minimum Qualifications 8 years of experience in data science or applied machine learning 5 years leading teams developing ML-powered customer engagement or personalization systems Deep knowledge of large language models (LLMs) and their use in dialogue, decisioning, and personalization Experience combining LLMs with traditional ML approaches for behavioral modeling or targeting Expertise in building user profiles from structured and unstructured data, and using them for recommendation or ranking Proven ability to build systems that personalize interactions based on customer history and real-time signals Strong communication skills, with the ability to drive clarity across engineering, product, and experience teams Preferred Qualifications Advanced degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field Experience in conversational commerce, personalized assistants, or task-oriented dialog systems Familiarity with long-context LLM applications, memory architectures, and personalization infrastructure Knowledge of reinforcement learning or contextual bandits applied to engagement optimization Demonstrated ability to launch ML-powered product features that improved engagement, retention, or satisfaction About Walmart Global Tech Imagine working in an environment where one line of code can make life easier for hundreds of millions of people. That’s what we do at Walmart Global Tech. We’re a team of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity expert's and service professionals within the world’s leading retailer who make an epic impact and are at the forefront of the next retail disruption. People are why we innovate, and people power our innovations. We are people-led and tech-empowered. We train our team in the skillsets of the future and bring in experts like you to help us grow. We have roles for those chasing their first opportunity as well as those looking for the opportunity that will define their career. Here, you can kickstart a great career in tech, gain new skills and experience for virtually every industry, or leverage your expertise to innovate at scale, impact millions and reimagine the future of retail. Walmart’s culture is a competitive advantage, and it’s fostered by being together. Working together in person allows us to collaborate, align quickly and innovate with greater speed. We use our campuses to create purposeful connection rooted in deepening understanding and investing in the development of our associates. Our hubs: Walmart is a global company with offices across the United States and around the world. Our global headquarters is in Bentonville, Arkansas, with primary hubs in the San Francisco Bay area and New York/New Jersey. Benefits: Benefits: Beyond our great compensation package, you can receive incentive awards for your performance. Other great perks include 401(k) match, stock purchase plan, paid maternity and parental leave, PTO, multiple health plans, and much more. Equal Opportunity Employer: Walmart, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer – By Choice. We believe we are best equipped to help our associates, customers and the communities we serve live better when we really know them. That means understanding, respecting and valuing diversity- unique styles, experiences, identities, ideas and opinions – while being inclusive of all people. The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed in the role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The full Job Description can be made available as part of the hiring process. At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more. ? ? ? You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable. ? For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices . ? ? Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart. ? Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to a specific plan or program terms. ? For information about benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart . ? Sunnyvale, California US-11656:The annual salary range for this position is $169,000.00-$338,000.00 ? Bentonville, Arkansas US-10735:The annual salary range for this position is $130,000.00-$260,000.00 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. ? Additional compensation for certain positions may also include: ? ? - Stock ? ? Minimum Qualifications Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications. Option 1: Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 6 years' experience in an analytics related field. Option 2: Masters degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 4 years' experience in an analytics related field. Option 3: 8 years' experience in an analytics or related field Preferred Qualifications Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications. Data science, machine learning, optimization models, PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics, Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R, Supervisory experience, Using open source frameworks (for example, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch), We value candidates with a background in creating inclusive digital experiences, demonstrating knowledge in implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly. The ideal candidate would have knowledge of accessibility best practices and join us as we continue to create accessible products and services following Walmart’s accessibility standards and guidelines for supporting an inclusive culture. Primary Location 1375 Crossman Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1114, United States of America

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